[LN] He's a Phantom. (Set before Nova's interviews)

[daddyphantom]

This was strange. Admittedly, strange and Danny had long been acquainted, but even for him it wasn't common to be at home and then suddenly pulled to a icy wasteland. If he hadn't known any better he'dve said he was in the Far Frozen, but there was a certain feel to the Ghost Zone that this place lacked. It reminded him more of his brief but disturbing experience with Panem from just over 15 years ago. True, he'd woken up there rather than having suddenly appeared, but the feeling of being whisked away to an unfamiliar place both against one's will and without any warning was definitely familiar.

Looking around, he thought he spotted some signs of civilization off in the distance. Deciding to check it out, he transformed and flew towards it.

What he found was a massive wood and stone building set into the ice. Part of him, as he hovered invisibly around it, almost automatically associated it with Santa's workshop, but shook off that knee-jerk reaction. Up until he got a good look in one of the windows.



Toys. And elves. And yeti, apparently. What. The. Hell. Apparently Dad had actually been right.

He looked for an entrance (No reason to be rude by just walking through a wall) and, not immediately seeing anyone, called out.

"Hey! Anybody home?"

Comments

[googledox]

Danny was greeted with the sight of panicked yetis, who seemed to be worried that the Pole was under attack. They quickly scrambled and got help. It wasn't very long before a familiar face came flying in. Admittedly, that face was slightly less familiar than before - the implants that had previously been on it were gone, no longer needed to keep him mentally stable as a myth, and pale areas on his skin in the shape of them had been left behind in their place. His clothes were also a touch less supervillainous than Danny likely remembered. Without the stylists at Panem forcing him into drab grey and black clothing that was full of stark lines and stiffness, his costume was a touch more...heroic. His shirt was tight and spandexy, and while it was purple and black it looked much more like a superhero costume than a villain's costume. For pants, he had a baggy purple jumpsuit, that seemed to have roughly a million pockets and straps, some of which held small tools. It was held up by a yellow belt, with the pant legs stuffed into bright yellow boots. He left the top of the jumpsuit unzipped and dangling at his waist. He looked far more like an engineer or mechanic now and far less stiff and cold. The expression on his face, however, was just as stern, although it seemed to be because he thought he had a potential fight on his hands. "Who the sprock are you and how did you get in here?"

[daddyphantom]

"Wait. Brainiac 5?" Danny said, eyes widening. "I should be asking you the same question. If even half the stuff you told me back in Panem was true you should've been naughty-listed forever. The genius part obviously wasn't if you really can't figure out who I am."

If nothing else, the symbol the stylists had taken every chance they could to stick on him was currently emblazoned across his chest.

[googledox]

Brainy narrowed his eyes, glancing at the symbol, then his eyes widened. "Fenton?" How was this even possible? Except...well, time travel certainly could have been a factor. Who knew what time period he'd been pulled from - and returned to - and how it related to the time on other worlds? "You're alive. How? And why are you so much older? Were you returned home somehow? Was there some sort of time dilation effect?"

[daddyphantom]

"I have a...friend is probably not exactly the right word for Clockwork, but it's close enough, who has control over all of time. He managed to pull me back home right after my last arena. And then blocked Panem from pulling me or anyone else."

Which explained where he'd been, and started getting into why he hadn't come back. Something he still felt guilty about years later.

"...sorry I couldn't come get the rest of you out of there. Clockwork said he couldn't let anyone from my universe past the block without opening it up to the Capitol trying to kidnap hostages. Not sure I actually believe he couldn't, but arguing with him is like arguing with a wall that already knows everything you're going to say."

[googledox]

"So you went home," Brainy said and then he...smiled? He actually smiled. "Excellent. The more people trapped in Panem that find their way to their respective home dimensions the better." Which was an extremely odd thing for a villain to say. "I'm afraid you've found yourself dimensionally displaced to another world in turmoil, however. Fortunately, this one is far less of an ordeal than Panem was. We have much more freedom here to fix what's broken - no more evil overlords to speak of, just a primordial evil deity."

[daddyphantom]

"Okay...you're acting distinctly non-villainous right about now. So, is the whole lacking your implants thing making you loopy again or..."

Danny carefully considered what Panem was like. A place where lying, backstabbing, and making up dramatic stories from scratch was the only way to survive. He facepalmed.

"You were never a villain in the first place, were you? And it took me fifteen years to figure that out. I am a complete idiot."

He shook his head, a wry grin on his face. "Primordial evil deities, I can handle. Any other ex-Tributes here, or is it just you and me?"

[googledox]

Brainy looked quite smug. "I may have downplayed my intelligence slightly. And I may have lied about being a supervillain back home when Lyle and were really superheroes. And I may have created a certain rebellious persona on the network that allowed others to communicate privately and secretly built technology for the Tributes for subversive purposes." It wasn't just a lie. It had been a cover. "There are several ex-Tributes here, all pulled from the middle of their ordeals in Panem. Myself, Lyle, Sandy Marko, and Harley Quinn."

[daddyphantom]

"Glad to hear some people got out of that mess." Not as many as he'd like, but anyone getting free was a good thing. Danny noticed Cos wasn't mentioned among them, and wondered what had happened to the third member of the team. But this wasn't the time for asking a potentially traumatizing question, not unless Brainy brought him up first.


"So, what exactly is the story with this evil god? Why are we basing ourselves out of Santa's workshop of all places?"

He suddenly looked very worried. "And, this just occurred to me now, is there any way of getting in touch with home? Because Sam will make me all the way dead if she finds out there is and I didn't use it."

[googledox]

"You needn't worry about contacting any loved ones. Some of the people here have been temporarily pulled back to their home universes and found that comparatively little time had passed back home." Very convenient. "We're currently in a world that is substantially affected by belief and faith. In this universe, several fictional folk figures from human culture are real people that give gifts to children and have meta abilities that allow them to protect said children from supernatural forces." He signaled from Danny to follow him, floating in the air and folding his hands behind his back. He might as well give him the tour as he spoke. "A supernatural being named Pitch Black, also known as the 'Bogeyman,' accidentally released a monstrously powerful otherdimensional being named Kuk, which is now preying on this world, trying to force its way all the way into this universe. After it consumes this universe, it intends to use it as a stepping stone in its quest to destroy all of existence."

[daddyphantom]

Danny hovered behind. Fictional folk figures who were apparently also superheroes. Where had he heard that one before?

"Of course that's what happened. Let me guess, Pitch is egotistical and power hungry, let Kuk out when he was trying steal it's power, and is probably biding his time hoping both sides destroy each other.." Danny said as he rolled his original thought around in his head.

"This is Jack Frost and Bunny's world, isn't it? Or a similar one."

[googledox]

"Naturally," he said in response to Danny's guess. It was a classic supervillain dick move. "And affirmative, this is their native universe - although this Jack Frost and Bunnymund have no memories of Panem. This appears to be an alternate universe of the one that belonged to the Jack and Bunny we knew." In a way, it was its own small mercy. That meant the two people most familiar with this place weren't burdened with the traumas of Panem. Of course, it led one to wonder if the other Jack and Bunny's probable deaths meant their home universe was poorer for it. Brainy tried not to think about such things. "In this universe, we're all fiction, either by random chance - after all, everything must be real somewhere, including worlds where fiction reflects the lives of people in other universes - or due to some hitherto unknown means of information transmission between our universes and the writers and artists of this world. Because reality is thin due to Kuk's presence, we've all been pulled here by the belief of the children." He added, looking back with a tilt of his head, "We believe it to be a subconscious action on their part. They're afraid of Kuk's minions: his fearlings, which are horrific monsters that transform other children into more fearlings by touch, and the villains and monsters from other worlds that he's recruited. Their fear and belief were potent in this universe long before Kuk was released and now that reality is so thin it's pulling in individuals from other universes whose lives are reflected in their fiction. There has been some variation in that some of us that have been brought here have lived slightly different lives than what's been depicted in their media but there is a distinct pattern of every individual being represented in some fashion."

[daddyphantom]

Danny's eyes flared angrily and he almost growled when he heard what the fearlings were. Even before he'd become a parent he'd liked kids, and absolutely despised anyone who harm or take advantage of them. Since his children had been born, that had only become more true.

"Its dead." Danny said definitively. "And its groupies aren't getting off much better. What are we working with here. Who've we got on our side?"

Brainy might be surprised by how definite Danny had sounded about that, but Danny's no-kill rule had largely been out of belief that none of the Tributes deserved to die, and partly as a giant screw you to the Capitol itself.

[googledox]

For a moment it was surprising but when Brainy considered Danny's apparent age and the many intervening years that it had technically been since Danny had met him last, it wasn't that odd. And generally, despite the Legion's no killing rule, exceptions were sometimes considered for godlike entities of pure evil. The Legion charter did have provisions for when there was no other way for the Legion to defend themselves or save lives. "We're quite fortunate in that we seem have assembled a fairly skilled group of individuals. There are quite a few superheroes like ourselves, as well as fairly gifted scientists, magic-wielders, and non-powered combatants. Everything from hunters of the supernatural to dragon-riding warriors. Even those who had no powers initially have been granted them by the belief of the children. Currently, Bunnymund us in charge but he's planning on transitioning a newcomer into taking over leadership, a superhero named Nova. Apparently, he was the commander-in-chief of a multi-species army that fought a genocidal lunatic in a galactic war."

[daddyphantom]

Danny whistled.

"Okay, I'm withholding final judgement until I actually meet the guy. Still, if he has that kind of experience I'm definitely up for following him. I mean, I'm used to being leader, but I can happily put aside any issues with not being one if he's really that good."

Danny was impressed. He liked to think he was a decent leader and a competent strategist, both of which were true, and that he could handle most problems tossed his way. But he couldn't even begin to imagine where he'd even start with a fight on that kind of scale.

[googledox]

"He seems serviceably competent so far. Stern but fair, and good-humored in his free time. We'll have to see how he handles battlefield conditions. If he's unable to handle it, there are several others here that might make competent leaders." He added, "Bunnymund and Jack have openly admitted to being ill-equipped to lead. Apparently, the usual leader of their team was Nicholas St. North, whose facilities we're currently using." Yes, their leader had been Santa, because this was clearly Santa's workshop. "He and the other Guardians are currently imprisoned in a crystal prison outside the magical door Kuk is trying to open to access this universe."

[daddyphantom]

"Is there a lab?" Danny paused when remembered who he was talking to.

"Nevermind, dumb question. If there wasn't one when you got here there probably is now. I majored in engineering in college. I can't turn laser pointers into death rays with a box of scraps, but I can build ectoguns if I can get the right supplies."

[googledox]

"Daniel, back in Panem I was assembling technology in my hoodie pockets without looking, after cannibalizing the parts from household electronics," he said flatly. "Of course there's a lab." Duh. "You'll be in good company. There are several other scientists and engineers besides Lyle and I. Honey Lemon, a chemist, Tadashi Hamada, a robotics engineer, and Ray Stanz, who I believe has some expertise in creating technology used against ectoplasmic entities. Also, Peter Parker is somewhat promising in regards to chemistry - he's a teenager but has some aptitude for it."

[daddyphantom]

"Speaking of Lyle, where is he? Lab, elsewhere, or is he here? Sneaking around, trying to surprise me, completely forgetting that I've been fighting things that turn invisible for most of my life."

Danny wasn't aware of Lyle's own invisibility powers, but there were plenty of places to hide around here. And someone who had pretended to be a kid-assassin had to have some sort of sneaking skills.

[googledox]

Who said it was pretend? A lot of the backstory details he and Lyle had chosen were steeped in truth. They made for more convincing lies that way. "The lab or sneaking. His lurking habits back in the Capitol were genuine and naturally, now that he has his invisibility back, he's taken to spending a disproportionate amount of time invisible. I think he missed being able to antagonize people invisibly." A pause. "That is his actual power, by the way. His superhero name is actually Invisible Kid, not Chemical King. He is a chemist, but that was never the core aspect of his superhero identity."

[atippleoftransparency]

"I heard my name," said...the hovering, half-eaten banana that had just entered the room. "What are you telling people about me? Also, try this. I'm not sure if it tastes weird or if this is a different species of banana than we're used to."

Lyle was actually more focused on the new arrival than what he was saying. He'd heard "Invisible Kid" and "Chemical King", which meant that this was someone who knew them from Panem. However, the man wasn't immediately familiar, so--

Then Lyle saw the symbol on the man's chest and it all clicked into place.

"Danny!" he said delightedly, fading back into visibility. Apparently, it wasn't villainy that left him with a largely black wardrobe, but the big white lowercase 'i' on the front definitely wasn't going to belong to a 'Chemical King'. "Wow, that is one hell of a puberty you went through when we weren't looking. How have you been?"

[daddyphantom]

"Yeah, my dad's ridiculously tall genes started kicking in not long after I got out." Danny was well aware he towered over almost everybody he knew. It was kind of hard not to notice.

"Can't complain. Married Sam," who he'd mentioned to Lyle at one point, "I have two very awesome kids, a ghost puppy, and I just found out people other than me got out of Panem."

[atippleoftransparency]

"Congratulations on your marriage and children," Lyle said. "I hope the acquisition of the ghost puppy wasn't upsetting."

Because, well, the creation of a ghost puppy had probably involved a living puppy at one point...

"Yeah, there are a surprising number of people here with that experience." He cocked his head to the side. "I'd say the fact that we already outside of our own universes might have made it easier for us to be pulled here, but that doesn't necessarily work in your case without some modifications."

[googledox]

Brainy, in the meantime had taken the banana in his hand and dutifully taken a small bite, before handing it back to Lyle. "Your findings have now been peer-reviewed," he said after swallowing. "There's nothing wrong with the banana, it's likely a different strain than we're used to." Bananas, now there was a food that tasted different in every world that had them. For some reason. "I've informed Daniel of our ongoing ruse back in Panem. He's aware that we're superheroes now."